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Post by altamont on Mar 1, 2017 12:23:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2017 12:25:48 GMT
I bloody love some Greg Hicks. For a couple of years I seemed to accidentally see him in everything, and it's been far too long. Definitive standout in that season for me.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2017 12:39:09 GMT
Thanks for pointing that out - the whole season looks interesting. I saw These Trees Are Made of Blood at the Southwark Playhouse a while ago - definitely recommended.
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Post by Jan on Mar 1, 2017 15:06:02 GMT
Thanks for that. Hicks is potentially good casting. The Arcola programming is a bit more to my taste these days, seeing Cherry Orchard next week.
On 20th May they are doing a "relaxed performance" of R-III - what does that mean ?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2017 15:17:03 GMT
Relaxed performances are generally aimed at people who are less at ease in a formal theatre environment for various reasons. The expectation is that the audience are allowed to be a little more disruptive, and if the production has any particularly intense effects or moments then they will be toned down for the audience in question.
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Post by Jan on Mar 1, 2017 15:23:13 GMT
Relaxed performances are generally aimed at people who are less at ease in a formal theatre environment for various reasons. The expectation is that the audience are allowed to be a little more disruptive, and if the production has any particularly intense effects or moments then they will be toned down for the audience in question. Blimey - based on past form Hicks will have tone down his entire performance then. |
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Post by lynette on Mar 3, 2017 22:33:22 GMT
Is there a thread for this? Anyway, I've booked. Seemed everso cheap to me. I paid £19 cos I'm very very very old. Just joking. I'm only one very. Incidentally in Athens recently I got reduced rate entry to the Acropolis museum because I'm so ancient ( watched it being built didn't I?) but with menace in her eyes the ticket lady said, 'for as long as you are in the EU'. So now I have to get round Europe very fast into the museums at reduced rate while I can.
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Post by altamont on Mar 3, 2017 23:36:41 GMT
Yes, there is already a thread
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Post by lynette on Mar 4, 2017 15:36:07 GMT
Relaxed performances are generally aimed at people who are less at ease in a formal theatre environment for various reasons. The expectation is that the audience are allowed to be a little more disruptive, and if the production has any particularly intense effects or moments then they will be toned down for the audience in question. Blimey - based on past form Hicks will have tone down his entire performance then. Hicks often starts his performance so high up that one wonders if he has room to go further. So this one will be fun. |
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Post by Jan on Mar 4, 2017 16:20:01 GMT
Blimey - based on past form Hicks will have tone down his entire performance then. Hicks often starts his performance so high up that one wonders if he has room to go further. So this one will be fun. Yes, I am a great admirer of his ... in certain roles. As an actor he is entirely without vanity and is not bothered about the audience not liking his character, he can play entirely unsympathetic characters unsympathetically - Coriolanus, Tamburlaine - he was very good as Leontes, a role in which Simon R-B was a bit twinkly and got laughs and Hicks didn't. Having said that he might be a bit too austere for R-III and fall into the same trap as the charisma-free zone Ralph Fiennes in not enlisting the audience's sympahthy and complicity in his villainy at all. Also, not a great director for this one. Anyway, as you say, a cheap ticket so why not ?. |
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Post by altamont on Mar 9, 2017 18:49:31 GMT
Public booking now open
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Post by Jan on Mar 10, 2017 12:35:16 GMT
Yes, it seems to have opened to a wave of apathy, no problem in securing front row seats. It was far from full for The Cherry Orchard when I saw it, maybe their location counts against them. |
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Post by perfectspy on Mar 10, 2017 23:15:02 GMT
Yes, the Arcola isn't the easiest theatre to get to.
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Post by David J on May 13, 2017 18:30:24 GMT
Saw the matinee. Bloody good this
Greg Hicks is now on of my favourite Richard III's behind Jonathan Slinger. Never been a fan of his harsh delivery of lines (only worked for me in the winters tale) but it really suits the role. He's like a hell Hound trying to break free of the chain that is keeping his limp arm and knee together. He has fun with the sardonic humour and has a piercing look from his gaunt eyes
Great acting all round including Paul Kemps resigned Clarence, Peter Guinness's silky Buckingham, Jamie de Courceys fiery Richmond and Matthew Sim almost stealing the limelight as Catesby
It does take its time. Running at nearly 3 hours. But in the Arcola it's a very atmospheric, as Richards usurpation tskes hold
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Post by tmesis on May 14, 2017 12:43:53 GMT
Thanks for the review - going in 2 weeks and now really looking forward to it.
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Post by Jan on May 17, 2017 22:09:04 GMT
This is very good. In the same style but better in almost all ways than the Ralph Feinnes effort at the Almeida. Greg Hicks is one of our best stage actors and is still at the height of his powers - it is a treat to see him up close in a small venue. It is pretty much a one-man show as the production and supporting cast are not quite up to his standard but there is an excellent and interesting Catesby.
But it was only half full. Come on people !
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Post by Jan on May 20, 2017 18:02:55 GMT
Just by the way for those seeing it, on checking I see the text has been quite cunningly adjusted to highlight Catesby's part.
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Post by Cheryl on May 21, 2017 9:52:35 GMT
I stumbled on this thanks to a Twitter mate and it's extremely good. I like most of the editing and it's the best RIII I have seen, on a par with the fantastic Jonathan Slinger in The Histories. I am stunned at how cheap the tickets are, £22 for top price. Hicks is remarkable and frankly terrifying. I've never been to the Arcola before but it's a lovely little theatre. It was also great to have an after show talk from some of the creative team who cleared up a couple of things that were slightly puzzling. I hope more people go along, plenty of tickets are up for grabs. My full review is on my blog measurestillformeasure.com. Incidentally, I was at the relaxed performance and no-one abandoned ship. The story telling is so clear that nine-year sat through it with evident enjoyment -- he may have had nightmares last night though!
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Post by johng on May 25, 2017 17:26:42 GMT
Just received notice that they've cancelled the Wednesday matinees, so I guess the ticket sales hadn't picked up.
Was doing this next Wednesday with an evening performance of Ugly Lies The Bone, so may have to try to find something else to justify the train journey to London!
Unfortunately means I won't be able to get to this, shame as I really like Greg Hicks
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Post by lynette on May 25, 2017 18:28:26 GMT
A shame if that is the case.
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Post by caa on May 25, 2017 19:24:34 GMT
Just received notice that they've cancelled the Wednesday matinees, so I guess the ticket sales hadn't picked up. Was doing this next Wednesday with an evening performance of Ugly Lies The Bone, so may have to try to find something else to justify the train journey to London! Unfortunately means I won't be able to get to this, shame as I really like Greg Hicks I went to yesterday's matinee and it was half full at best, its a shame as Greg Hicks is fantastic in this
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Post by tmesis on May 28, 2017 12:42:08 GMT
This is terrific and deserves a much wider audience than a Dalston fringe theatre (unlikely in view of poor sales.) Hicks gives a magnificent performance that grips from start to finish. The whole cast impressed with their concentration of performance and the Arcola is a great space for such a play with great use made of the 'elevated' sections. In fact, the more I go to the Arcola the more adaptable I feel the acting space is. It seemed perfect for Richard III but also superb for the claustrophobia of Kenny Morgan recently and even working brilliantly for a musical like Carousel a few years back.
Touchingly Hicks had to be dragged reluctantly to the front to take a solo bow for his performance last night. A truly modest man.
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Post by altamont on May 28, 2017 18:38:09 GMT
We saw this yesterday afternoon - in a baking hot Arcola, around two thirds full. It does deserve a much larger audience, and it is such a shame so many theatregoers either don't know about, or won't travel to the theatre. At the end, Greg Hicks looked like he might have injured himself - such were his exertions in the final battle scenes. An astonishing performance.
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Post by bee on Jun 4, 2017 19:20:03 GMT
I saw the matinee of this yesterday. An epic performance from Greg Hicks and a fine supporting cast, especially Matthew Sim as a cool, sinister Catesby (although his veneer cracks briefly after the murder of the princes) and Jane Bertish as a ferocious Queen Margaret.
Not a bad crowd in, maybe 80% full, but it really deserves to be sold out every night.
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Post by lynette on Jun 5, 2017 14:47:46 GMT
Going Sat
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